


Between The Shelves

by jagseun



Category: GOT7, K-pop
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Humor, Library Scenarios, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-02-18
Updated: 2016-08-31
Packaged: 2018-05-21 13:20:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 8,650
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6053074
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jagseun/pseuds/jagseun
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A series of one-shots revolving around Jaebum, Jackson, Junior and Mark, that take place is a university library.  Mostly humour and lowkey crack, but if some shippy things happen to leak in it's going to be markjin and jackbum.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. no, i cannot help you find your textbook if you don’t know what it’s called.

**Author's Note:**

> All of these one-shots are going to be roughly based on these prompts! http://quoth-the-ravenclaw.tumblr.com/post/134385821929/library-aus-based-off-my-experiences-working-in-a
> 
> Please tell me if you liked this and which prompt you would like to see me write next!! :)

“Hey!  I’m looking for a textbook for my class, mind helping me find it?”  Jackson leaned over the library counter as he spoke to the boy working there.

Jinyoung looked up from his book for a moment then looked back down.  “Find it yourself.”

“What the hell Jinyoung, you work at a library; you’re supposed to help me find stuff.”  Jackson grabbed the spine if Jinyoung’s book and pulled it down so he was forced to look up at him again.  “If you don’t help me I’m going to write the nastiest comment about you and put it in the suggestion box.”

Jinyoung sighed as he marked his page and put his book down.  “Fine, which textbook are you looking for?”

“It’s for my math class.”

“Do you know the ISBN?  Title?  Author?”

“Hmmm… I think it had a blue cover.”

Jinyoung gave him an exasperated look before reaching for his book again.  “Forget it, you’re hopeless.”

“No, Jinyoung, please!  I need to find the book I have a quiz today and I need to study!”  Jackson grabbed the book out of Jinyoung’s hand and held it close to his chest.  “You’re not getting this back until you help me find it.”

“Jackson, how on earth am I going to find a book you know nothing about?  Why are you just getting the textbook the day of your quiz?”

“I don’t need to actually _buy_ the textbooks for classes; I just need to borrow them the day of the quiz!  It’s the perfect way to save money.”  Jackson had a smug look on his face.

“Sounds like a stupid plan to me, especially when you don’t even know what textbook it is.  Do you even know what the class is about, or have you never attended the lectures?”

“Hey!  I didn’t come all the way to the library to be judged for my personal study habits.”  Jackson held the book up to Jinyoung’s face threateningly.  “If you don’t help me I’ll take your bookmark out of this book! Look at how massive this thing is! You’ll never find your page!”

Jinyoung stared him down.  “You wouldn’t _dare_.”

Jackson opened the book up to the page Jinyoung had marked.  “ _Try me._ ”

“Okay, seriously Jackson, stop.”  Jinyoung leaned over the counter and shut the book in Jackson’s hands. “I want to help you but I really can’t do anything unless you give me some sort of information about the book.”

“Okay, I think it’s a linear algebra class.  The book is about,” Jackson estimated the size with his fingers.  “This thick.”

Jinyoung just typed ‘linear algebra textbook’ into the computer then turned the monitor around to face Jackson.  “Is it any of these?”

Jackson stared at the screen before a familiar book caught his eye.  “AHA!  There it is!  That one!”  Jackson excitedly pointed to the fourth book on the screen.

Jinyoung turned the screen back around and started clicking.  “Excellent.”  He deadpanned.

“What section is it in?  Can you go get it for me, pretty please?”  Jackson finally put Jinyoung’s book back safely on the counter and started bopping up and down in place because he was so happy they managed to find the book.

“Uh, bad news Jackson.  We only have one copy of that book and it’s currently on loan.”

Jackson’s jaw immediately dropped.  “What?!  Who has _my_ textbook?  I need it right now!  This is absurd!”

“First of all, it’s not your textbook it belongs to the library which is a public domain.  Secondly, I can’t tell you who has the book, customer confidentiality guidelines you know.”

That’s when Jackson practically jumped over the counter.  “Let me see the screen!  Jinyoung, stop pushing me, _let me see the screen_!”

“Are you crazy Jackson?! What the hell are you doinmpfff—“Jackson’s elbow landed in Jinyoung’s face as he flopped right over onto his lap. 

Jackson stared up at the computer screen. “ _Mark_?  Mark has my book?!”   He scrambled off Jinyoung’s lap back over the counter.  “I didn’t even know he was taking that class!”

“How would you know? You’ve never even been to the class.” 

Jackson threw a dirty look at Jinyoung before he continued his rant.  “I thought he was my friend!  I feel hurt, stabbed right in the back, I can’t believe he would do this to me!”

“Jackson be quiet, you’re in a library!  He’s your roommate; you just need to ask him for the book and he’ll probably lend it to you, right?”

“I mean… probably.”  Jackson was still trying to calm himself down when someone came up next to him and shoved a book right in his face.

“Looking for this?”

Jackson gasped when he realized he was face to face with his math textbook.  “Mark!  How did you know I was here?  Did you just hear my heart screaming out your name?  Did you descend from the heavens as my guardian angel?”

“No.  I was upstairs studying but you guys were so loud I could hear you from all the way up there.  I didn’t even know you were taking this class.” 

Jackson took the book from Mark and held it close to his chest.  “Yeah, well.  I’ve been busy you know, can’t expect me to attend every lecture!”  Jackson rubbed the back of his neck with his hand as he laughed awkwardly.  “So, why are you borrowing the book today?”

“Well, I don’t really think I need to buy the textbook as long as I just borrow it from the library so I can study for the quizzes.  I can save money that way.”

Jinyoung looked up at Mark with a smile.  “Wow, that’s so smart Mark!  I should’ve thought of that.”

Jackson sneered at Jinyoung before leaning down so their faces were close enough that Mark couldn’t hear them speak.  “You’re a fraud, a big, huge fraud.  I hope you know that.”

“You’re not supposed to say ‘ _big, huge’_ Jackson, that’s redundant.”

Jackson glared at Jinyoung about to start yelling but he was able to rein in his anger and stop himself.  “Fine, you want to play that game?”  Jackson turned back around to Mark and immediately jumped onto him, circling his arms around his shoulders and holding him tight.  “Mark!  You still need to study, right?  We can study together until it’s time for the quiz!”

“Jackson, what are you—“Mark tried to push him out of his personal bubble but was unsuccessful.

Jackson got even closer so he could rub his cheek against Mark’s.  “Come on Markie-pooh!  This is going to be the best study date _ever_!”  Jackson started to drag Mark away but made sure to throw a smirk back towards to library counter before leaving.

The look on Jinyoung’s face in that moment had made his trip to the library completely worth it.


	2. WHY DID YOU ANNOTATE A LIBRARY BOOK IN PEN.

“You annotated this book in _pen_?”  Jaebum stared at Jackson from behind the counter as he opened up the book he was returning only to find scribbles on almost every page.

“Sorry, I couldn’t find my pencil.”  Was Jackson’s only response.

“You shouldn’t be writing in a library book either way.”  Jaebum flipped through the rest of the pages disapprovingly.  “You could’ve at least gone out and bought some sticky notes or something.  Like every other normal person.”

“… I didn’t think of that!  That’s actually a solid idea!”

Jaebum wasn’t sure if he should grab him by the shoulders and try to shake some sense into him or just burst out laughing at his idiocy.   He decided to just stare at him incredulously.

“Hey, relax.  I just saved whoever borrows that book next from annotating it themselves!  You should thank me; you can advertise that book as ‘pre-annotated’ now.”  Jackson gave him a look that made it clear that he was not joking, he was completely serious.

“Jackson, _nobody_ is going to appreciate that.”

“No way!  I buy a used textbook and I see someone already highlighted the whole thing, I’m thankful!  Saves me the time of finding the important parts myself.  Little notes on the pages are an added bonus!”

Jaebum cringed at the thought.  The thought of buying a used textbook with marks all over it was horrifying to him.  Sometimes it was even worth the extra money to get a fresh textbook, just so he didn’t have to deal with that type of thing.  “Listen, Jackson, this is considered vandalism.  You have to pay to replace the book.”

“Jaebum!  I thought we were friends! “Jackson but a hand on his chest and gave him an astonished look.

“So this book is $30, do you want to pay now or should I just put the fine on your account?”

“ _Thirty dollars_?!”  Jackson picked up the book and shoved it into Jaebum’s face.  “For this tiny thing?  No way!  I’m not paying for anything!”

“So, I guess I’ll just put that fine on your account.  Please be aware that if you accrue more than $40 in fines your case will be filed with the police as illegal activity.”

Jackson’s face immediately morphed from anger to sadness.  “Oh my god!  Jaebum please, I’m too young to have a criminal record!!  Please, can you just pretend you didn’t see it?  Just this one time!  I’m begging you!” 

Jackson had his hands together and was using his adorable pouty face on him.  “Why didn’t you just return it through the drop box anyways?  Nobody comes to the counter to return a book anymore.”  It was getting really hard to keep his laughter in at this point.  Jackson sincerely believed he was going to get in trouble.

“Huh?  Oh, n-no reason.”  Jackson looked like he had remembered something.  Jaebum could’ve sworn he saw his cheeks redden just a bit.  “I was just wondering if your shift was over soon…”

“No, I still have three more hours.”

“Oh, well I could come back in three hours, we could hang out…”

“I have a midterm tomorrow, so I need to study.”

Jackson looked disappointed. “Forget it.  Just put the charge on my tab.  I’ll figure something out.”

Jaebum took one more look at Jackson before he finally cracked and started giggling. “Jackson, don’t look at me like that.  I’m not going to charge you for the book.” _I was never going to charge you for the book._

Jackson looked like he was about to cry.  “Really?  I’m free to go as an innocent citizen?”  _Is he truly that gullible?_

He scanned the book and dumped it into the return pile.  “If you really want to hang out I can probably make some time for you tomorrow night?  I’m going to need some alcohol to sooth my post-exam sadness anyways.  You buy the drinks and I’ll pretend I didn’t see anything.”

“Jaebum, I... yes!  Thank you!”  Jackson swung leaned over the counter and swung his arms around him.  “You’re the best!  I’ll buy you drinks!  I’ll buy you drinks for the rest of the semester!  Thank you, thank you, thank you!!”

“Jackson, be quiet!  We’re in the library!”  Jaebum tried to pry Jackson off him but he couldn’t hold back the huge smile that now adorned his face.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hmm, I feel like I'm alone with this opinion but I'm on Jackson's side when it comes to used textbooks. Pre-highlighted by the last person sounds like a good deal to me, LOL. Also, jackbum, jackbum, jackbum. I've been with 2jae since I got into GOT7 but jackbum entered my life about a month ago? Now I'm in so deep, I love this ship. I think it's almost tied with with 2jae. Why have I been so blind all these months? I'm going to squeeze so much more jackbum into this, lmao.


	3. you have rented and returned the entire lost series in the span of 8 days. are you okay.

Jackson was worried.

Him roommate, Mark, had always been the quieter of the two.  He was a good friend, but he hardly even noticed he had a roommate sometimes.  Still, there were occasions where he asked him to watch some cute puppy video with him or even times when he asked him out to eat in the middle of the night.  It was a nice low maintenance friendship and he had to admit he enjoyed it more than he let on, but something had changed. 

He first noticed a shift eight days ago.

Jackson had walked into his room to find Mark on his lying on his back on the bed, his laptop resting on his stomach, a typical position for Mark to be in.  Jackson greeted him as he walked in with his usual “I’m back!”  To which usually Mark would nod or grunt in response, or if he was in a really good mood he got a “Welcome back.”  Those were rare occasions.  However, that day had been the first time in their entire friendship that Mark had completely ignored his greeting.  He kind of looked at him for a minute waiting for some sort of response, but there was nothing.  He was just staring at his laptop screen, ear buds in his ears, sheltered from the rest of the world.  It was as if he was stuck in some sort of trance.

Jackson found this extremely odd but he decided to ignore it.  Maybe Mark just wasn’t in the mood to greet him today. 

The next day Jackson arrived back at the dorm late from fencing practice again and Mark was in that same position.  Eyes glued to his laptop screen.  He wasn’t even sure if he had even moved since Jackson had left.  “I’m back!”  He yelled to no avail.  Mark didn’t even flinch.  Jackson decided to ignore it again, but he knew there was something going on.

Five days.  Every single night he got home and Mark was on his laptop staring at the screen with an unreadable expression on his face.  If Mark hadn’t, at least, changed his clothes daily he would’ve thought Mark just lied in bed with his laptop all day.  Jackson finally broke, tonight he decided to walk over to Mark and wave his hand between him and his laptop screen.  That turned out to be one of the worst decisions of his life.  Mark finally looked up at him but with an angry stare. 

“Jackson, I’d appreciate if you didn’t bother me.”  Mark’s voice was stone cold and even Jackson was a little frightened.  He decided to calmly climb into bed and pray that Mark didn’t suffocate him in his sleep.

Three more days passed like this and Jackson decided to take another approach.  He rarely had free days in his busy schedule of school and practice but he decided to take most of the day off and just sort of relax in his room.  Honestly, even when he had nothing to do he hated staying in his room for too long, it made him go stir-crazy.  For the sake of observation, he camped out on his bed. He kept himself looking busy as he surfed aimlessly on his laptop while casually sneaking glances at Mark.  He knew Mark had class today but he had made no effort to move from his position.  What he had gathered was that Mark was constantly watching some sort of show.  He had been doing this for the past _eight_ days.

Finally, he heard Mark snap his laptop closed beside him.  He was so startled because he hadn’t seen Mark move in days he jumped right up out of bed and stared at him expectantly. 

He was only greeted by Mark’s dry expression as he slid the laptop off of his lap and went to change out of his pyjamas.

“Mark!  Are you actually going out?” 

“I’m just going to run down to the university library real quick.”  That wasn’t the answer Jackson was expecting.

“That sounds exciting!  Can I come with you?”  Jackson had never been excited to go to a library in his life.  He was pretty sure Mark was aware of this as well, but he didn’t say anything. He just nodded yes.

* * *

 

They didn’t speak the entire way to the library.  Mark looked like a man on a mission, speed walking the entire way there.

As soon as they walked through the door Mark tossed his backpack onto the counter and unzipped it to reveal four DVDs.  Mark was about to toss them all into the return box but Jackson reached out and grabbed his wrist.  “What are these?”  Jackson picked up one of the DVDs and examined the cover.  “ _Lost_? Isn’t that just the show where they’re all trapped on an island or something? Have you just been watching this for the past _eight_ days?”

“It’s not _just_ a show, Jackson. It’s amazing.  I’ve never seen a show like it before.”  Mark quickly grabbed the DVD out of Jackson’s hand and deposited it into the return box with the rest of them.  “I have the fifth season waiting for me on the hold shelf, so if you’d excuse me…”

This time, Jackson grabbed Mark by the arm to stop him from walking away.  “Mark, this needs to stop.  I know you skipped class today.  This TV series is taking over your life.”

“Are _you_ really scolding me for skipping class?”

“Hey! I’m not here to discuss my personal class attendance.  _My_ record is already shot; you still can still salvage something.  I won’t let you go down this path.”

“Jackson, let go.” 

“Mark, please!  You can finish the rest when we have a break in a month.  Don’t you see this show is tearing your life apart?”  Jackson pleaded with him.

“I said, _let go_.” Mark may appear to be skinny but he was stronger than he looked.  He pried his arm out of Jackson’s grip and marched towards the hold shelf.

Jackson, completely forgetting that they were in a library, thought the only reasonable solution was to run after him and tackle him right to the ground.  Everyone was staring now and Mark just looked like he was about to rip Jackson’s head off.  “Mark!  I can’t let my best friend do this!  You don’t need to finish it now!”

“No, Jackson!  You don’t understand!  I _need_ to know what happens next.”  Mark was struggling underneath but Jackson managed to keep him down with his entire body mass on top of him.

“Mark, you have barely said a word to me in over a week!  I’m sure they all make it off the island!”

“It’s not that simple!  Jackson, I just don’t know anymore!” Mark was almost yelling at this point, he had only heard him get this loud a maximum of three times since he met him. “Are they on the island? Are they off the island? Are they on and off the island at the same time? Were they ever even on the island?  I can’t just leave it hanging!”  Mark stopped struggling and just looked at him with desperation in his eyes.  “Please, there only two more seasons left!  I promise I’ll go to class, just let me pick up my DVD.”

Jackson felt his head spin just trying to comprehend what Mark was saying.  “Mark, it’s fictional!  It’s not real!”

“Jackson you don’t understand.  You’ll _never_ understand.”

Before he even had a chance to reply he spotted a very angry library assistant walking towards them

“Listen.  This is a library.  A library is a spot for quiet studying or reading.  If you guys want to wrestle and have arguments, please do so elsewhere.  If you wish to remain here, get off the ground and _be quiet_.”  In that moment, Jinyoung looked angrier than both of them combined.  Mark must’ve thought the same because they both made an effort to stand up and brush themselves off while Jinyoung told everyone to go back to what they were doing.

“Jinyoung!  Please tell Mark he’s wasting his life away watching a show—“

Jinyoung’s face softened when he came down from his fit of anger and noticed Mark was there.  “Oh!  Mark, I grabbed your hold off the shelf for you.  Did you want me to check it out for you?”

Mark glanced between the two of them and sighed.  “Jackson.”  He turned to walk towards him, he was back to talking in his hushed library tone.  “I’m sorry I’ve been ignoring you for the past week.  It’s clear you care a lot about me and I’m thankful to have a best friend like you.”

“M-Mark…”  Jackson was never great at holding grudges with friends so he immediately pulled him into a hug and apologized into Mark’s shoulder.  “I’m so glad….”

Mark unlatched himself from Jackson and gave him a warm smile before turning towards Jinyoung.  “Jinyoung… switch roommates with me.  I’ll take Jaebum and you take Jackson.  Three days at most is all I need. ” Jackson’s jaw dropped and Jinyoung just stared at him in confusion.

“What, are you saying you want to room with Jaebum for three days?”  Jinyoung squirmed from just saying that aloud.

“Yeah, we’re not that close so if I room with him for three days I’ll be able to finish up _Lost_ and he won’t bother me that much!  Please, Jinyoung?”  Mark said the ‘please’ in a higher tone and he put his hands together and begged.

“I thought we made up Mark!  Now you’re trying to get rid of me for three days? You… you…”  Jackson glanced over at Jinyoung who now looked like he had just swallowed a bug.

“Me… rooming with _Jackson_ for three whole days?  Do you want him to come back alive?  I’m pretty sure we’d rip each other’s throats out before the time was up.”  Jackson knew that was definitely a legitimate concern, but he knew that was not the main reason Jinyoung was opposed.

“Uh, please Jinyoung.  Can Jackson just stay somewhere for three days?  How about you let him room with Jaebum and you can room with me?  You wouldn’t bother me, right Jinyoung?”

That suggestion managed to shut both of them up as they both read the flush on each other cheeks and the dread in their eyes.  “No.”  They replied in unison.  

Jackson awkwardly walked over and slung his arm around Jinyoung’s neck.  “Well, you heard Mark!  Guess we’re roommates for three days.”  They both forced smiles at each other as Mark looked at them with a puzzled look before shrugging and walking over the counter to check out DVD.

“Jackson, this is your fault.  Now I’m stuck with you for three days.”

“I know, I know.”  Jackson still couldn’t believe he had gotten into a heated argument in the library of a series.  Just what had Mark so riled up he would get that passionate, he wondered.  “Three days, eh…”

“I don’t like that look on your face.”  Jackson was deep in thought for a moment before he turned to Jinyoung.

“Hey, do you want to watch _Lost_?”

“Why would I want to watch that—“

“Mark likes it.”

“I’m in.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have not watched Lost, nor do I ever plan to watch Lost, but the inspiration for this chapter came from a friend who recently marathoned the entirety of Lost in about a week and a half. He graciously told me about all the things that confused him and how angry he was about certain characters dying so I couldn't really watch it now even if I wanted to. 
> 
> Thanks to everyone who have read, commented, and left kudos! :)


	4. you saw me dancing to my ipod while reshelving books. please don’t judge me.

Jaebum had been opposed to the idea of working the early morning shift in the library at first, but then he realized it wasn’t as bad as he initially thought.  He had to wake up at six in the morning, which was hell for the first couple months, but nowadays he was so used to it he didn’t even need his alarm to ring for him to hop out of bed before dawn.

He wasn’t sure why the library needed to be open by 6:30 AM considering nobody was ever there, at this time of year at least.  During exam season, there were a few brave souls who dragged themselves out of bed to sit down in the library and try to cram all day for an exam they were ill-prepared for, but at this time of the year it was deserted.

Jaebum loved working this early because he didn’t have to deal with anybody.  He was left at peace with just himself and the cart of returned library books that needed to be reshelved.

He wasn’t one for the eerie quiet of a lonely library early in the morning so he always plugged in his iPod, cranked it up to the highest volume he could handle without permanent damage to his ears, and worked away.

Eventually, he started getting lost in the music.  He continued to put books on the shelves but he tapped his foot to the beat as he worked.  Every step he took turned into a glide down the aisles.  He took books off the cart and spun in circles a few times as he walked them over to the shelf.  Soon he was full out dancing as he worked; exaggerating the moves because he knew nobody would find him.

He almost wanted to start throwing down some b-boy moves, but he decided the carpeted floor wasn’t the best surface to try sliding his body across.  Instead, he just melted into the beat of the music, using fluid movements in an attempt to mimic the feel of the melody.  He didn’t know any actual dances for this particular song, what he was doing probably looked ridiculous, but he just decided to close his eyes and let his body move in any way it desired.

He then felt a particular song come on in which he knew all the lyrics to, and he couldn’t help himself from starting to sing aloud, quietly at first but then he got louder.  Nobody was going to hear him. 

Jaebum had never had an interest in singing until he discovered this particular artist.  The way he sang made him realize if he trained his voice enough he could learn to sing and dance and possibly make a career out of his talents – it was a stretch of course- but he didn’t want to completely cross out the possibility.

Books discarded, the seemingly empty library was now a stage for Jaebum.  Belting notes and making up random dance moves.  It was six in the morning but he never felt so alive.  Just as he was about to go in for the killer high note at the end he was grabbed by the shoulders and turned around abruptly.

“IM JAEBUM.”  He didn’t hear anything but he read the words on Mark’s lips and decided to pull his ear buds out. 

“M-Mark?  What are you doing here?”  He was probably the last person he expected to see in the library, let alone in the library this early.  He was sure he was still asleep when he left the room.

“Oh, uh.  I kind of followed you here; I didn’t even realize the library opened this early.”  Mark let go of Jaebum’s shoulders and rubbed the back of his neck with his hand.  Jaebum only realized now Mark was still in his pyjamas.

“Yeah, I always work the morning shift; nobody really ever comes to the library this early this time of year, it’s… peaceful.”

“So, is that why you decided to have a mini concert in here?”  Jaebum had hoped Mark was too awkward to bring it up, but he had been wrong.  He hadn’t known Mark well prior to sharing a room with him for two days but now he realized that even though he was older he was no means any more serious than he was.  Mark was extremely playful and liked to tease everyone, and Jaebum was regretful to the fact that Mark was older than him.  If Mark was just one day younger Jaebum wouldn’t hesitate to shut him down immediately.  Instead, he found himself averting his eyes and trying not to embarrass himself more than he already has.

“I really thought I was alone, sorry.” 

Mark just giggled, looking up at him like he was a kid or something.  Jaebum felt slightly offended.  “No need to apologize, it was actually pretty good.  I almost didn’t want to stop you.  Your vocals are nice. I knew you were a dancer but I didn’t expect you to have such a quality voice.  You should seriously consider a job in music.”

Jaebum wasn’t sure if he should take the compliment in stride or continue to wallow in how embarrassed he was.  He decided on the former.  “Thanks, that um, means a lot.”  That just left both of them standing awkwardly in the middle of the library unsure what to say.  “Uh, Mark, why did you follow me to the library in the first place?”

“Oh!”  Mark’s eyes lit up as he grabbed Jaebum by the shoulders again.  “Well, I saw you leaving and I thought to myself, does the library open this early?  Then I remembered my hold for the final season of _Lost_ was supposed to come in today!  Have you put the holds on the shelf yet?  _Is it here_?”

Jaebum simply pointed to the cart he had left in the aisle and told him it should be there if it has arrived.  No longer than two seconds later Mark sprinted over the cart and found his DVD almost immediately.  “Yes, Jaebum!  Thank you!  I can start watching this immediately!”  Mark ran back over to him and pulled him into a bone-crushing hug before running back to his room, DVD in hand.

“Wait, Mark!  You need to check that out—“Mark was already gone. _Had he run past the alarm so fast it didn’t go off?_ Jaebum just decided to ignore it and be grateful he didn’t have to deal with turning the alarm off.

He put his ear buds in and cranked the volume back up. 

Hopefully, nobody _else_ needed to use the library this early.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's midterm week but I just took a tiny break today to write this, heh. I feel like my mind is too full of math and equations to proofread properly today, so apologies if I missed anything! 
> 
> Thanks for reading as usual, all your comments and kudos are greatly appreciated! <3


	5. i found you asleep in the stacks. we’re closed. please go home.

“Jackson.”

Jinyoung shook him but he just kept on snoring.

“Jackson, wake up.”

Jinyoung shook him a bit harder.  He stirred a bit, but then fell right back asleep.

Jinyoung sighed and mustered up some air in his lungs.

“JACKSON! WAKE UP!”

That got his attention.  He jolted from his slumber right away.  “Huh?  No!  I really don’t know the answer!”

“Jackson, you’re not in class.”  Jinyoung crossed his arms and glared at him from where he was standing.

“I’m not… what… where am I?”  Jackson looked around, completely out of it.

“You’re in the library.  You were sleeping, using that pile of books as a pillow.”  Jinyoung pointed to the stack and Jackson looked like his memories were slowly fading back in.  “We’re closing now, you need to go home.”

Jinyoung was expecting Jackson’s normal quip but instead, he tried to get up but collapsed back down half way, causing Jinyoung to try and grab him to hold him up.  “Hey, are you okay?”

“Sorry, just a little tired.  I have an assignment due tomorrow… I must’ve dozed off working on it.”  Jackson yawned and tried to lie back down on his pile of books in the corner.

“Hey, hey!  Jackson, stop.  You can’t sleep here!”  Jinyoung was planning to make fun of him but now he was genuinely concerned.  “I didn’t ask about the assignment, are _you_ okay?”

Jinyoung had been rooming with Jackson for two days now and he hadn’t truly paid attention at first but now that he thought about it, Jackson always seemed to be busy doing something.  He was barely ever in the dorm.  He even stayed up until the wee hours of the morning practicing fencing, since he was too busy to do so during the day.  It was no wonder he just collapsed.

“Jinyoung, don’t worry about me.  I’m alright.  Trust me.”  Jackson eyes were red and glazed over as he spoke to him.  It was so strange seeing him in such a down mood compared to his usual self, bursting with energy.

“You don’t look alright Jackson.  Don’t lie to me.”  No matter how many times they argued or didn’t get along, they were actually really close friends.  Jinyoung couldn’t help but feel worried.  “I know you barely attend classes, where are you all day and night?”

Jackson looked like he didn’t really want to answer and Jinyoung wouldn’t let him go until he did.  “Well, I have jobs.  Three of them, to be exact.  I just got a new one, the hours are kind of demanding.  It’s not a big deal. I can handle it, and of course, I need to keep my fencing skills up to par so I can compete.  Since there isn’t any other time, I try to get in some practice during the night…”

“Jackson that’s crazy!  You can’t be working 24 hours of the day.  You’ve got to take a break sometimes.”

“No, Jinyoung… you don’t understand.”  Jackson sighed and tried to rub the sleep out of his eyes before answering.  “My mom’s not in good condition.  She needs back surgery… It’s going to cost a lot.  I was already working hard to pay off my school debt but now I need to work even harder to help with this.  I can’t just leave her hanging.”

Jackson looked so vulnerable and Jinyoung just wanted to reach out and pat his head.  “Jackson… I understand that but you can’t be overworking yourself like this either.  What would your mom say if she knew about this?  Would she want you to be so tired you pass out in public places?”

“I just want to make her happy.”  Jackson looked towards to window.  It was already completely dark outside.  “My father always tells me this, _‘If you work hard enough at it, you can grind even an iron rod down to a needle.’_  I know I may have to push myself and work hard right now but once I earn enough money all of this is going to be worth it.  I should be grateful that I have all these opportunities.”

“Jackson…”  Jinyoung wasn’t sure what to say.  Jackson was obviously dead-set on his actions. 

“Aw, what?  Is Jinyoungie actually worried about me?”  Jackson was smiling again and Jinyoung was relieved to see him not look so defeated.

“Yes, I’m worried, you idiot.  My friend passed out in the library.”  Jinyoung was smiling and Jackson finally held out his hand for Jinyoung to help him onto his feet.  “I understand your reasons, but that doesn’t mean I completely agree with them.”  Jackson swung his arm around Jinyoung’s shoulders to keep his balance.  “At least, let me help you with your schoolwork or something?”

“Not needed, I can handle it… although I might need to send out an e-mail about the project I fell asleep on today.  I don’t think I’ll be able to finish it tonight.” 

“You’re going to sleep as soon as we get back to the room, I’ll send that e-mail for you.”  Jackson looked at him and smiled.

“What, so I can’t go practice fencing tonight?”  Jinyoung shot him an angry stare and Jackson just laughed.  “That was a joke; don’t look at me like that.”

“You’re completely ridiculous Jackson, I’ll never understand you.”

“Hmm, that’s fine.”  Jackson let out a yawn he was trying to hold back and rested his head against Jinyoung’s shoulder as they walked.  “Hey, Jinyoung?”

“Yeah?”

“Thank you.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Honestly, if I start shipping jinson by the end of this series It's not my fault. Ever since I watched that got1day of Jackson talking about his deep relationship with Jinyoung i've been a bit hooked, LOL.
> 
> Your kudos and comments are all greatly appreciated!! <3


	6. your study group ordered pizza to the library and you let me have some

“Uh, pizza delivery?”  A boy in uniform was standing at the library counter, large pizza box in hand.

Jaebum looked up from where he was scanning books.  “I think you have the wrong address, this is a university library.”

“Actually, the guy who ordered it mentioned it was this library, he said it was okay.”  The boy shifted his weight to one knee and just stared at them, a rebellious look in his eye.

“This is _not_ okay!”  Jinyoung came barging in behind the counter.  Jaebum had thought he was up on the second floor reshelving books.  He must’ve had some sort of sixth sense to know when people were breaking library rules.  “Absolutely _no_ food allowed in the library.”

Jaebum got up from his chair and went over the mediate as well.  “Wait,” Jaebum eyed the pizza box before cracking the lid open.  “Oh my god, this isn’t even Korean-style pizza, this is western-style! We can’t turn this down.”

Jinyoung crossed his arms and stared at Jaebum.  “You know, for someone who says they don’t like western-style food you really do love pizza and burgers.” 

“Hey, we all have our exceptions.”  After taking one more loving glance at the pizza he closed the box.  “Sorry, who is this pizza delivery for?”

The boy looked like dealing with them was the most annoying task in the world.  He pulled out the receipt and read off the name.  “This delivery is for… Markson?”

Jinyoung audibly groaned and Jaebum just snatched the pizza box from his hand and walked it over to the table at the very back of the library where he knew he’d find Mark and Jackson.

“Yo!  Pizza’s here!”  Jackson yelled when he saw Jaebum approaching and reached his arms out to grab to pizza box from him.  Instead, Jaebum just set the box down on the table, pulled out a chair to sit down, and grabbed the first slice himself.  “Hey hey hey!  That’s our pizza you’re eating!”

Jaebum devoured his first slice before answering.  “Your pizza, my workplace.  I deserve at least half.”

Mark decided to silently grab a slice before Jaebum got his hands on the rest.

“No way!  I ordered this pizza for our _private_ study session.  I haven’t eaten all day!  I could eat five of these things!”

“Well, you should’ve considered that before you ordered to the _library_ or all places.  Couldn’t you have just taken a lunch break and went out and eaten something?”

“And risk losing our study table?  This _prime_ location is not a spot you gamble with.  We need to eat here.”  Jackson looked offended he would even suggest such a thing.

“Well you better eat quickly; I can see Jinyoung on his way to shut down your pizza party.”  Sure enough, Jinyoung had finally made his way down there.

“You,” Jinyoung stared directly at Jackson.  “I expected this from you.”  Then Jinyoung fixed his gaze on Jaebum.  “I didn’t expect this from you.”

Jaebum just shrugged while shoving another slice in his mouth.  

“Sorry mom, how about we give you a free slice and call it a truce this time?”  Jackson offered.

“I don’t want your pizza!  You guys need to get rid of this or leave immediatel—“

“Jinyoungie.”  Mark spoke and Jinyoung’s face immediately softened.

“Yes?”

“Say ahh.”  Mark was holding up a pizza slice while doing that cute nose-scrunching thing he did.

Jinyoung leaned in and took a bite of the pizza Mark was holding obediently.  Mark made a satisfied noise and Jackson muttered a quiet ‘ew’.  “Hmm, this is actually pretty good,” Jinyoung admitted as he sat down and grabbed a slice of his own.  “I’ll let you guys slide this time, but we’re disinfecting the table and sweeping up any crumbs afterwards.”

All four of them were munching happily when they were startled by a loud clearing of the throat that came from behind them.  “Uh, guys?”  The pizza delivery boy was standing behind them.  “Are you going to pay me or nah?”

Jackson and Mark exchanged glances before Jackson piped in.  “I actually forgot my wallet, so did Mark.” Mark nodded in agreement.

Jaebum stared angrily at them.  “You ordered pizza but don’t have your wallets, what kind of logic is that?”

“I just realized!  I swear!”  Jackson leaned towards Jaebum, a diabolical smirk on his face. “It looks like you ate the most anyways.  You should pay.”

Jaebum turned to Jinyoung.  “We can split it then, Jinyoung?  It shouldn’t be that much.”

Jinyoung would always be on his side.  Best friends for the past six years had to mean something.

“Ehh?  I barely had two slices, besides Jaebum aren’t you loaded?”  Jaebum just stared at his supposed best friend incredulously.

“Jaebum!  You are loaded aren’t you?  Don’t lie; I know you do musical gigs on the side.”  Jackson continued, much to Jaebum’s dismay.

“Isn’t your wallet alone worth two hundred dollars?  I heard it’s _Gucci_.”  He made a mental note to take the bookmarks out from all of Jinyoung’s books later at their dorm.

Jackson began a chant and soon Mark and Jinyoung joined in.  “Jaebum!  Jaebum!  Jaebum!”

Jaebum sighed and pulled out his wallet with a heavy heart, this brought about cheering from Mark and Jackson, and Jinyoung telling them not to be so loud.

Jaebum scoffed as the pizza boy rudely snatched the money from his hands and walked out.  Jaebum then turned back to the table of people he thought were his friends.  “This was a one-time deal; don’t expect any more favours from now on.”

Jackson muttered out a ‘sure’ but the he started giggling and the two others joined in to laugh at his misery.

_Traitors._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> -Hey guys! I have a bunch of projects due and then exams for 2 weeks so... expect updates (if any) to be scarce until the end of this semester.  
> Thanks for all your comments and kudos!! <3


	7. you keep watching baby animal videos on youtube without headphones on and i should yell all you but they’re really cute baby animals

“Arf! Arf!”

Jinyoung looked up from where he was reading a book at the library check-out desk when he heard the loud barking.

It was a slow day in the library, the beginning of the semester and only one or two people were actually there studying, three people browsing on their laptops or phones, and at least four people taking a nap.  Nobody was checking out books, so Jinyoung was using this as free reading time.

It wasn’t every day someone brought their dog to the library (it had happened before, unfortunately) and Jinyoung was ready to tell someone off but when he looked up there was not a dog in sight.

There was some more barking and some cute whining before he found the source of the noise.  Someone was watching videos, specifically videos of cute dogs, with their laptop volume on full blast.

He could see that they did have their earbuds in, but they must not have plugged them in properly.

He was about to go over there and yell but he was in the middle of a particularly cute video, three puppies asleep rolling around until they reached a comfortable position.  Their little legs wiggling and the little noses twitching, Jinyoung was entranced.  He forgot about his original goal as his eyes were glued to the monitor, taking in the cuteness.

The video ended and he clicked another, this time, there was a kitten along with a dog, the kitten playing with the dog which seemed slightly annoyed but he couldn’t do anything but let the kitten play with him lovingly.

Jinyoung didn’t even realize that he had sat there staring at the screen for countless minutes, watching cute dog after cute kitten and even one video of some dangerously cute penguins before the videos suddenly stopped and the laptop owner turned around.

“I can feel you staring at my laptop.  If you wanted to join me you could’ve just asked, Jinyoung-ah.”

Jinyoung’s eyes widened when he turned around.  “Mark?  When did you dye your hair brown?  I thought…”  Now he was just embarrassed.

“I dyed it yesterday, you really didn’t recognize me?  I’m offended.”  He put a hand on his chest to feign hurt but then he just started giggling.

“I’m sorry.”  Jinyoung was putting unconsciously.

“I’m kidding, you like cute animal videos too, I’m guessing?”  Mark pulled out the chair next to him and motioned for him to sit down next to him.

“Actually, I came over here to tell you that your earbuds aren’t plugged in, you’re playing your sound out loud.”  Jinyoung sat down next to him awkwardly.

“What?!”  Mark took the wire between his fingertips and traced it down until he realized it wasn’t plugged in.  “Shoot, sorry.”  He pushed it into the socket properly.

“It’s fine, really.”  Jinyoung’s original plan had been to come over here and nag, but he couldn’t find it in himself to yell at Mark.

“Okay- wait,” Mark reached out and literally pulled Jinyoung’s chair closer to him until their shoulders were touching and Jinyoung could feel his palms start to get sweaty.  “There.”  Mark took one of his earbuds and put it into Jinyoung’s ear and smiled.  “We can watch videos together now.”

“Okay.”  Mark slid his laptop over so it sat in the middle of two of them before he pulled up another playlist filled with cute animal videos and hit play.

There were puppies, tons of them, happily jumping around playing together, tripping over their own feet and Jinyoung didn’t know how he could concentrate on the video when Mark was smiling so brightly next to him he could power three cities with the energy radiating from the pure joy on his face.

“I wish we could keep pets in the dorm, I’ve always wanted a dog,” Mark said as the next video auto-played.  “Jackson likes dogs too.”

“I like dogs too!”  Jinyoung said, too eagerly.

“Oh, really?  Okay then Jinyoungie, once we graduate we can move out and adopt some puppies together.”  Mark was completely joking but Jinyoung was having a little too fun imagining that scenario.  “Jinyoungie, earth to Jinyoungie!”  Mark snapped his fingers and Jinyoung realized he had stared into space for too long.

“What, oh yeah.  Puppies sound like a great idea.”  Jinyoung was flushed and Mark just laughed cutely.

“I can be the puppy dad and you can be the…”

“Puppy mom?”

“I was going to say _other_ puppy dad, but whatever floats your boat.”   

Jinyoung covered his mouth because he was giggling too much and soon Mark joined in, their giggles somehow escalating into full-blown laughter because the situation was just so ridiculous.

“Um, excuse me, does anyone work here?”   They weren’t yelling, but they were talking loudly enough to echo throughout the library.

“Oh, oops.”  Jinyoung pulled his earbud out and got out of his chair.  “Sorry, coming!”  He called back and shot an apologetic look at Mark. “Gotta go.”

“Hey, are you free tomorrow morning?”

“I don’t have class until two, so I’m free before then, why?”

“I was going to go down to the shelter to look at some puppies… for research purposes only of course.  You can come with me if you want since you like dogs too.  We can hone our skills for our future puppy endeavors.” 

Jinyoung couldn’t help but smile from ear to ear.

“It’s a date.”


	8. someone left a comment card in the suggestions box that says “the library assistant is super cute” and now all of the library assistants are arguing over who it’s for

Jaebum wasn’t sure why they still had a suggestion box.  The small container at the end of the check-out desk next to a pile of small pieces of papers and a stubby pencil was left untouched on most days.

At the end of the week, they had to empty it, but there were never any real suggestions in there.  Sometimes you’d get a random complaint, a folded up drawing of a dick, and the odd cracker, but nothing that really constituted them having the box in the first place.  No matter how much they asked, the librarian refused to get rid of it.

It was after hours, the library had closed for the night and he was with Jinyoung organizing a few things before they went back to their dorm.  It was a Friday, so Jaebum had to empty out the box, and he was thankful only one piece of paper fluttered out when he tipped it over.

Jinyoung had finished whatever he was doing and walked over to him, waiting for him to leave as well.  “Want to take bets before you unfold that?  Ten dollars it’s just another dick drawing.”

“I’m not agreeing to that one, it’s too heavily weighted in your favour.”  Jinyoung chuckled and Jaebum opened it, bracing his eyes for how detailed this week’s drawing was going to be.  Instead, he was greeted by a single sentence scrawled across the piece of paper.

_‘The library assistant is super cute! ;)’_

Jinyoung and Jaebum exchanged looks.  “Well that’s a new one, I’m flattered, though.”

“How do you know they were talking about you?”  The library had only two assistants working there, himself and Jinyoung.

“Oh,” Jinyoung realized what he had just implied and was embarrassed. “It’s just that you mostly work reshelving and I work the front counter, so I just thought if they were talking about library assistants they would automatically assume me.”

“I work the counter sometimes; a lot of people know me.”  Jaebum wasn’t going to let Jinyoung escape that easily.

“Okay, it could be either of us.  They didn’t mention so… I guess we’ll never know.”  Jinyoung picked up his bag to leave but Jaebum stood where he was.

“You automatically assumed it was for you.  Do you think you’re better-looking than me?”

Jinyoung’s face twisted, he knew this was coming.  “No!  I told you already… besides, I’m more of the ‘cute’ type, don’t you think?  You have more of a ‘handsome’ or ‘sexy’ vibe.”

“They didn’t really have to mean it as ‘cute’ so literally, it’s just a general term these days.”

Jinyoung sighed dramatically.  “What do you want me to say?”

“I just want you to admit you think you’re more attractive than me.” 

“I don’t think that.” 

“So, you think I’m the more attractive one?”

“Ah- well… no,” Jaebum snorted at his honesty.  “I’d say we’re equally attractive, right?”

“Yet, we’re not equally likely to receive a love confession, according to you.”  Jinyoung was muttering to himself, something about ‘ _how could I have said that with thinking… he’s never going to let me live this down_ ’ “Let’s break this down logically, how many times have you been propositioned- one night stands don’t count.”

“I’ve never had a one night stand, but I’m glad you think so highly of me.”  Jinyoung replied starkly.

“There was that time at the Christmas party last year or, were you too drunk to remember that?”

 Jinyoung stared at him blankly.  “I… what?  Nothing happened at the Christmas party.”

“Do you even remember the Christmas party?”

“Well honestly I’m kind of blanking but I’m sure if anything that… drastic… happened, I would’ve remembered.”

“So, you don’t remember telling Mark to put on that ugly sweater Jackson got him, him taking his shirt off and you yelling ‘ _Wow!  When did you get so ripped Mark_!’ and proceeding to stick your tongue down his throat right in the middle of the living room.  You were both completely wasted, so he didn’t even complain.”

“What?!  That can’t be true, Mark never mentioned anything to me… wait, are you telling me that… we…”

“Well, me being to the responsible roommate I forced you to go back to our dorm before you passed out but you couldn’t keep your hands off Mark so he ended up there as well… and I guess one thing lead to another..”

Jinyoung looked like he had just witnessed a murder.  “What?!  Are you serious?!  No way, there’s no way.  That didn’t happen!”  He put his hands on his face, trying to process the situation.

“I slept on the floor outside our dorm thanks to you.  I had a kink in my back for a week.  I ended up waking up at around 6am and told Mark to leave, couldn’t let your pure façade be ruined, y’know.” Jaebum had a smug look on his face.

Jinyoung was just looking at the ground regretting his entire life and Jaebum couldn’t help it anymore, bursting out laughing. 

“I’m sorry, I can’t watch you like this anymore- It’s too funny.”  He keeled over and held his stomach as he couldn’t get over and Jinyoung quickly realized the situation.

“You _asshole,_ how dare you make up lies?”  Jinyoung was one second away from knocking him upside the head.

“Hey, it’s partly true.  You did make out with Mark in the living room, but then I made sure to haul your ass back to our room and stuff you into bed before you did anything _that_ stupid.  You were both too wasted to recall anything.”

“So you’re telling me I kissed Mark… and I don’t remember it.”

“You should see the look on your face right now, _priceless_.  I knew saving this piece of information for the right moment would be worth it.”

“I don’t deserve this; I didn’t mean to say that out loud in the first place!”

“Oh, so you admit you thought you were more attractive!”  Jaebum was half celebrating his victory and half still laughing his ass off.

 “Give me _that._ ”  Jinyoung snatched the piece of paper from Jaebum’s hand to rip it up but when he looked at it, he saw another part written in the corner, Jaebum’s thumb had covered it.

_‘From, JW_ ❤ _’_

Jinyoung chuckled to himself before he handed the piece of paper back to Jaebum.

“I was wrong; this note is _definitely_ for you.”


End file.
